Facebook Privacy Problem

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Facebook’s privacy policy has recently been in the news, so I Googled it to find out what’s all the fuss. Well apparently a website by the name of YourOpenBook.org lets you search Facebook postings even if you don’t have an account. So anyone can find out if you’ve recently been talking about your crappy boss, your illegal activities, or that one night stand you’re not so proud of.

Check out this link for more information: http://www.pcworld.com/article/196410/facebook_privacy_secrets_unveiled.html

Don’t Trust that Copy Machine

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 11:02 am

Check out this recent CBS news report on copy machine security risks. Your personal information could wind up in anyone’s hands. So think twice the next time you go to use your company’s copy machine or the one at your local library or convenience store. Something as important as health information, driver’s license, or worse could be floating around somewhere.

Flash Banner Ad Design – Quilting Treasures

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 6:22 pm

This is a Flash banner ad designed for Quilting Treasures. I was given the logo, product shot and copy. The concept was mostly mine.

Get Adobe Flash player

Banner Ad Designs – Grind King Skateboards

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Here are some of the of the web banner ads I designed for Grind King Skateboards back when I was working on their websites.

GrindKing - Dalene Kurtis banner GrindKing - Dalene Kurtis banner Read on…

Flash Banner Ads for PYNTK

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 4:09 pm

People You Need to Know (an Atlanta, Georgia based publication) keeps me nice and busy by requesting Flash banner ads for their website. With nothing more than copy, a head shot, and a logo, I’m given creative freedom to execute the design and animation however I choose.

Flash banner ad design for Send Out Cards (click the image to see the animation):

Send Out Cards flash banner ad Read on…

WordPress Guide: part 11 – HTML Basics

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 9:52 pm

Click here to download the complete 11-part guide in PDF format. (2.5MB)

HTML, by itself, is actually a very easy language to learn. When you combine it with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and other web languages, then it becomes a little too much for non-web designers to absorb.

HTML is nothing more than instructions for the browser in the form of tags. Tags (not to be confused with WordPress Tags) are letter codes surrounded by brackets like this: . Your text and images need to be surrounded by these tags so the browser knows where to place the content and how to display it. Otherwise, the browser will do what it wants to. And it won’t be pretty.

Most tags come in pairs – an opening tag: and a closing tag: . You’ll notice the only difference is the “/” in the closing tag. This tells the browser that it has reached the end of this particular instruction. The browser will then continue to look for the next instruction.

Here is a list of the most common HTML tags you will encounter using WordPress: Read on…

WordPress Guide: part 10 – SEO Basics

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

Click here to download the complete 11-part guide in PDF format. (2.5MB)

Search Engine Optimization

In order for your website to be found by Google users, proper SEO measures have to be implemented into your website. I’m going to cover the basics of the essential techniques to be used on any website.

Don’t expect to become an SEO expert after reading this. As a matter of fact, I’ll understand if you think this is too much information and you’d rather let someone else worry about it. But if you’re one of those people that likes to do everything themselves or just wants to be able to understand this stuff a little bit better… read on. Read on…

WordPress Guide: part 9 – Settings

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

Click here to download the complete 11-part guide in PDF format. (2.5MB)

General

Most of these settings should be self explanatory. This is where you name your blog, tell WordPress the URL of your main blog page, the Admin email address, set date and time formats to be used throughout the website, and more.

Always click “Save Changes” if you’ve changed any of the settings.

Two settings that are important to mention… Read on…

WordPress Guide: part 8 – Tools

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:03 pm

Click here to download the complete 11-part guide in PDF format. (2.5MB)

The first page under the Tools button is Tools. This provides links to two browser applications (Turbo & Press This). They do not have any affect on your website directly and therefore your users will not be affected by them.

Note: I’ve never used either program so I really don’t know how good they are.

Find out more here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Tools_Tools_SubPanel

Import

If you’re re-installing your WordPress website from a WordPress backup file or moving your website from another blog-type web platform, you will be able to import your exported file here. Read on…

WordPress Guide: part 7 – Authors & Users

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:02 pm

Click here to download the complete 11-part guide in PDF format. (2.5MB)

The Users button takes you to the section for managing your Users. The main area called Authors & Users gives a list of all your users with their usernames, actual names, email addresses, their assigned role, and how many posts they’ve created. If your website doesn’t accept users, then your name will be the only one listed.

You can edit each user’s info, assign them a role, or delete a user.

The first user created is always the Admin (administrator). This is a role that grants the user permission to make any and all changes to the website. Read on…